Persimmons for Louisiana's Children (and everyone else, too...they don't mind)

If another fruit blogger were to ask me how to increase his site traffic, I would have three simple words for him: "persimmon", "medlar", and "rosie's loganberry drink". Okay, that last one is more than one word. But these three search terms probably account for half the hits on this site, so there is apparently a great unfulfilled need for information on these subjects. I think I've said pretty much all I have to say about Aunt Rosie and her loganberry drink (I'll let you all know if that changes), but I'm happy to share what little I know about the other two.

So, for all my many persimmon-loving fans out there, here's a something that popped up on the NAFEX list recently (it looks familiar, but I don't think I've mentioned it before on here):

Persimmons for Louisiana's Children - Young and Old

This is a three part (it would have been four, but the diseases section is unfinished) series of PDF documents on the persimmon, both American and Oriental, by Quintin Lee Holdeman, a retired nematologist. A lot of good information here, particularly for those interested primarily in the American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), for which literature, particularly quality literature, is a little thin. There's also a fair-sized section of information regarding American persimmon breeding, which is rather tough to find normally.

Just something interesting: I noticed in the second PDF of the above document, Holdeman cites references to a 770 year-old and a 600 year-old oriental persimmon. Wow! Just thought I'd point that out, in light of my earlier post on old fruit trees.